From Incas to Mayas

Better late than never ….I’m a bit behind with the blog updates, so here we go ….
First, just a couple more pictures of Nicaragua; one of Ann and myself (which I’m sure is really only of interest to our family), plus a shot of one of the 365 islands just off the coast of Lake Nicaragua, next to Granada. These islands have almost all been bought by millionaires as holiday homes. We took a boat trip out to see some of them (see picture); the houses are really beautiful. Ah well, how the other half lives!
Entering Honduras was expensive …US$50 …but at least someone took care of the paperwork for us. It took a few hours, as usual. A bit of advice for anyone crossing frontiers in Central America ….never get to the frontier early thinking that you will get through faster …because what happens is that they start processing your papers …get halfway through …and then go for breakfast!! ….leaving you twiddling your thumbs for an hour or more till they get back! Anyway, we made it eventually.
Our first campsite was unusual; in the grounds of a sort of water park. We camped in the car park, with the pools and slides on one side, and horse stables on the other. If we wanted a shower, we had to use the outside showers next to the swimming pool. Ann said it would be OK because nobody would be there early in the morning ….we didn’t count on the men cleaning the pool! So we had to shower in swimming costumes. The campground was next to the most important Maya site in Honduras; Copan Ruinas. The temples are not as big as other sites in Guatemala and Mexico, but the stone carving is really beautiful, and much more intricate. Also, they have excavated below one of the temples, and found a complete temple from an earlier period beneath it. So they built a full-size copy in the museum of what it was like in all its glory.
We should perhaps have spent more time in Honduras; it’s a beautiful country, but we had arranged to visit a friend in Guatemala city ….so another change of country.
The people of Guatemala love bright colours; a visit round one of the local fruit and vegetable markets is fascinating …Ann was clicking away like crazy taking shots of local costumes, stalls, buildings… The funny little three-wheeled « taxi » is an important form of transport in many of the smaller towns …very cheap, and they can get through narrow streets where ordinary taxis can’t go ….plus they seem to be exempt from all traffic regulations! …hurtling from one lane to another, wrong way down one-way streets, through red traffic lights….
The national emblem of Guatemala is the Quetzal bird, but unfortunately it is almost extinct (humans have destroyed many of its breeding grounds), so very few people actually ever see one. We decided to try ….we arrived at a small hotel/campsite next to a national park where some quetzals lived. We had just climbed out of the car, and Ann asked the owner if there were any Quetzals around. He said « Oh yes, you’re lucky, there’s one in the trees up there » He made a funny sort of whistling noise and a Quetzal flew down into the branches of a tree right next to us!! Unfortunately the picture we took is not very good, you can only see its blue back, but at least we saw one!!
Our next Maya site was Tikal, noted for the height and enormous size of the temples, and the fact that it is in the middle of the jungle. You can climb up the temple at one end of the site, and from there you can see the tops of the other temples sticking up through the trees; very impressive. With all the jungle around the Tikal site, there are quite a few species of birds and animals, we noted Collared Aracari Toucans, Linneated Woodpeckers, a lot of Montezuma Oropendulos, and a troupe of Spider Monkeys ….impressed? I sound just like a twitcher* don’t I? …I promise I don’t have a nylon anorak!
The easiest way to get to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico is to go through Belize. Belize used to be British, so they speak English, but its Expensive! The most expensive country in the whole of Central America!! So we didn’t stay long, just two days, then on to Mexico and the Yucatan, ….and Chichen Itza (or Chicken Pizza if you like), yet another pile of mouldy old stones ….Ooops sorry, another Maya site.
The customs going into Mexico were rather chaotic; we actually managed to enter without getting any temporary import papers for the car. It was only because I went back and insisted that they provided them (would have caused us nasty problems getting out of Mexico the other side). Then the only insurance office at the border was closed, so we drove for two days with no car insurance in Mexico ….fortunately nobody asked us to show it at the frequent military controls, or I might have been writing this from prison!

I’ve only included one picture of a Maya temple at Chicken Pizza (an astronomical observatory); when you’ve seen one Maya temple you’ve pretty much seen all of them. But I have included a picture of a « cenote ». These are sinkholes, very deep (up to 100metres) that are the result of ground subsidence following a meteorite impact in the Yucatan some time ago (a few million years ago I think ….before I was born anyway). The Mayas used them during religious ceremonies ….they believed they were gateways to paradise, and if you jumped in (and drowned of course), you would go straight to paradise …..they found many skeletons at the bottom …. The notion was not sufficiently appealing for me to try it out!
The final picture is of a Maya mummy buried with all its jewellery and best Sunday togs (and before you ask …..No, they didn’t have a Maya daddy!).

Talking of mummies ….I’d just like to announce that we’re double Grandparents now …our daughter Jane just produced a fine bouncing blonde-haired little boy called Luke Benjamin …3.48kg …mother and son both doing fine.

That’s all for now folks …watch this space!

* birdwatcher, just in case you didn’t know.

Volcanoes, volcanoes, volcanoes!

Our route seems to skip from one volcano to the next …which is not all that surprising I suppose when uou consider that we’re basically following a major fault line between the continental and Pacific tectonic plates (« tectonic » …how about that …not bad after four rum and cokes!)
After Puerto Viejo de Talamanca on the Caribbean coast we drive northwest to La Fortuna, a rather touristy town next to the Arenal volcano. There are many tour agencies selling trips to see waterfalls, volcanoes, lakes, « tree-top » tours, etc, etc… and they all cost a LOT of money. Costa Rica is expensive! So we chose carefully …and visited a couple of small zoos where they have an amazing variety of creatures: giant Hercules flying beetles that can carry up to 80 times their own weight …at least 20 varieties of venomous snakes that live in the area including coral snakes, horned vipers, Fer de Lances, plus quite a few poisonous frogs, tiny and brightly coloured, but covered in a toxic slime. Butterflies of all colours and sizes, including the big (10cm wingspan) Morpho butterfly that has bright blue iridescent wings. There are also many homeopathic plants …and nearly all of them seem to be for treating diarrhoea!
Our campsite is situated at the foot of the Arenal volcano, and one evening when there was no cloud, we could see the red glow of flames coming from the crater.
Racoons …lots of them …you only have to stop your car at the side of the road and whole families of them come running up begging for food. Trees full of Howler monkeys that throw their « poops » at you if they feel threatened …a fascinating form of self-defence that I didn’t try to verify!
We stopped at a roadside café run by some Germans and had two cups of coffee …for 12 dollars! We decided it was time to move on to Nicaragua …
The border crossing was totally chaotic …hundreds of people, cars, buses, trucks all over the place …and none of the offices have any signs on the doors! Fortunately there are lots of small boys who, for a small fee (9dollars), will take care of everything for you, and after about three hours we were through.
We drove to a small village called San Jorge on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, a rather large lake that measures 117km long by 58km wide (so large that for centuries it was used by pirates to attack Granada and other lakeside towns). We took a ferry boat to an island called Ometepe. The boat was just big enough to carry two banana trucks and our car …as long as they didn’t close the ramp at one end …which they didn’t!!
The island of Ometepe was formed by two separate volcanoes (yes, volcanoes again) that rose up through the lake, and vomited out so much lava that they joined up into one island. One of the volcanoes Concepcion) is still active (see picture). We found a little hostel with campsite (called « Pirate’s Treasure ») on the shoreline; very quiet, good resturant, beautiful scenery, and just a few local fishermen.
Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Central America and the Caribbean (after Haiti) and the contrast between the « haves » and the « have-nots » is blatant ……….
A visitor arrives in a big powerboat (twin 200hp engines) to do some fishing (eight rods with lines trawling behind the boat). He doesn’t catch anything, and the lake water is too stormy for him anyway. So he just sits around drinking beer for a couple of days, then moves on …….Just next door lives a Nicaraguan family with several little children, a few hens …and the husband who goes out fishing every morning at 5am in a tiny wooden boat, with a couple of oars and a little handmade sail. The prevailing wind quickly carries him out into the lake, …..but to get back takes several hours of hard rowing against the wind …for a handful of fish. But he has no choice …he has to catch some fish every day, or the family starves!!
There are hardly any cars on the island, but lots of horses and carts pulled by oxen. The local village bus navigates the island road (which is in appalling condition in some areas) each day, and its an interesting sight if you’re following it …it doesn’t travel in a straight line ….but diagonally!! There is obviously something radically out of alignment on the chassis, but as long as it keeps going … who cares!
In spite of everything, the local people are happy, smiling, and very friendly …lessons to be learnt?
Its hard to leave such idyllic places, but tomorrow we move on, northwest towards Honduras and the beginning of the Mayan empire. New horizons, new discoveries.
PS. One item of sad news …our beautiful, adorable dog Alexa died a week ago ….I was hoping she would still be around for our return, but she didn’t make it, …but she had a good life and lived over 14 years, which is very good for a golden retriever, and she was in good hands at the end.

Panama and Costa Rica

Panama, blink and you miss it!

The countries in Central America are so small when you compare them with somewhere like Argentina; we seem to have zipped through Panama. Anyway, we spent New Year’s Eve on the campsite in Santa Clara with our Swiss friends (and pet Toucan) …..drinking, dancing and diving fully dressed into the swimming pool at around 4am ….a fairly ordinary evening really. A couple of days later I managed to get the two rear tyres changed, and we set off again down to the end of the Azuero peninsula, to a campsite at Playa Venao. Beautiful beaches again ….and Howler monkeys living in the forest. These monkeys are not very big, but the noise they make is impressive! No need for an alarm clock to wake up in the morning, around 6am they start « howling » ….a noise that sounds rather like a lion with laryngitis ….and LOUD!

We drove from there to Boquete, a pretty little town in the mountains, surrounded by rainforest; nice and cool, and wonderful views of the mountains through the mists. Most afternoons there was a light drizzle of rain, which produced the most spectacular rainbows. One day we decided to try driving up the vertical slopes of the nearby active volcano just for fun! We got about halfway up before we decided that maybe we were being a little optimistic; the rocks were getting bigger and bigger, and the gullys deeper and deeper. Also, when you’re going up very steep slopes, you can’t stop to check the trail ahead (you wouldn’t get started again, …and there’s no way you can turn round), so you have to make split second decisions which way to go!
Coming down was just as bad ….the ground clearance of the vehicle is less …so Ann had to get out and clear big rocks from the trail (it’s good for her muscles!) Anyway, we made it safely down again with the car more or less in one piece!

Next stop was Playa Estero Rico, a weekend beach for the local people, where we took a little boat trip round the mangroves.

Now we headed north towards the Costa Rican border on the Caribbean side. We crossed at Changuinola; a bit complicated as usual but no problems. However, the approach to the customs post was rather unusual ….you had to drive over a very unstable RAILWAY bridge! …..watching where you put the wheels, and crossing your fingers that a train didn’t come the other way!!

Costa Rica

Ann has a talent for finding these wonderful little villages, and once again she triumphed. Puerto Viejo de Catamanca, a little fishing port on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica just over the border from Panama. Inhabited by an amazing cocktail of different nationalities including Jamaican, native Indian, Canadian, Italian, German, French, English ….. Lots of examples of mixed relationships with white and black parents walking round with little coffee-coloured children with blond hair. And if Bob Marley is still alive ….he’s living here! Rasta and Reggae dominate the streets, bars and beaches! …and the atmosphere is just one long party!
We came intending to stay one or two nights ….now its 8 days and we’re still here! One of those places that are so hard to leave (« I really need to check over the car before we go, but it’s too hot today …..I’ll do it tomorrow, or the day after, or …. »)
The beaches go on for ever, with lots of surfers, and there are immense coral reefs just off shore, easy to swim to and go snorkelling. Also we took a boat trip to find the dolphins; we watched 7 or 8 of them playing round the boat; Bottle-nose and another variety (smaller with a pink belly …Tukusi? …must look it up). The vegetation is rainforest, right up to the beaches; so we took a trip with Alex, a local guide to see the birds ….and frogs, including tiny little bright red ones.
We’re staying on a campsite run by « Miss Elena », a big, cheerful Costa Rican lady who keeps giving us samples of local cooking and drinks (a wonderfully refreshing Christmas ginger drink, big plates of red snapper in a curry, ginger and coconut milk sauce with fried bananas, beans and rice …..mmmmm) We also have a plentiful supply of ripe coconuts dropping from the trees around us (just don’t stand underneath when they fall!)

……Now reluctantly we are just about ready to move on again, towards the Arenal volcano.

Next update soon ……

PS. The digger picture is for Jack and TJ …

The Long Goodbye

The only ways to get from South America to Central America are either by plane, or by sea ….because there simply aren’t any roads, or even trails …..just disease-infested swamps, mountains, jungle, armed rebels, and drug smugglers! So we decided no, perhaps we wouldn’t try …maybe next time!

So, we drove down past the volcano Cotopaxi (no smoke or flames, very boring), then over the mountains through tiny villages to Manta, a town in the north of Ecuador, on the Pacific coast ….beautiful bays and little fishing villages ……to wait for a cargo boat which would take our car to Panama. The procedure is relatively simple, but the timing is triiiiicky! ……

The cargo boat only takes vehicles, not passengers, so we have to fly. But we can’t fly until we have a document called the Bill of Lading for the car …which is only issued once the car is safely loaded on the ship …..and the ship’s sailing schedule is notoriously unreliable!
We were first given a date of December 15th for the arrival of the ship in Manta …then Dec. 17th …..then 19th ….then 21st ….and finally Dec.22nd! So we couldn’t really reserve any plane tickets till the last minute!

However we found a cheap campsite just overlooking the beach outside of Manta, and spent our time swimming, and watching the local fishermen; they were catching mainly sardines and tuna (average weight 160lbs!), and chatting to our fellow campers …a German couple with two little dogs in an enormous off-road truck. They have been travelling for 3 years already, and don’t intend to stop. We spent Christmas day with them.
I also had to spend quite a bit of time and effort ensuring that the car plus contents were as « thief-proof » as possible (because you have to leave the car in the docks, and give them a key! ….and we had heard quite a few horror stories from other travellers!). Finally our car left on December 24th ….and we got plane tickets to Panama for December 26th.

On the morning of December 27th we went to the docks in Balboa (Panama City) ….and there was our car sitting in the customs yard waiting for us!! No damage, nothing missing!
All we had to do was complete the customs procedures and drive away ….sounds simple doesn’t it!
First, there is no written procedure to follow ….
Second, there are at least 9 little offices to visit …two of which are in other parts of the city several kilometres away! …and none of the offices have any signs to say what they do.
And of course nobody is really in a hurry ….. So after 4.5 hours (in the blazing sun), we finally got the keys to our car!

We decided we couldn’t leave Panama city without visiting the famous Canal, and the time was just right to see some cargo ships coming through the locks. Unfortunately we got completely lost (surprise, surprise!) trying to find the locks, and ended up stopped on the side of the road looking at our maps. Two police motorcyclists stopped and came over to ask us if we had a problem …and when we told them we were trying to find the Miraflores Locks, they just said …. « No problem, follow us » ….and took us all the way there! Yet another example of the kindness and helpfulness of people over here.
We didn’t realize just how much revenue the Canal earns for Panama …on average 25 to 30 ships pass through every day …..for which Panama charges between 3 and 4 million dollars!! ……each day!!! ….365days per year!!! But as they point out, if the ships have to go round Cape Horn, it takes two weeks longer, and costs 10 times as much!
The Canal locks are just 33 metres wide …and the largest ships measure 32 metres wide! So they are very carefully guided through by electric trains (or mules as they are called) which keep them in the middle, and help them to stop. Afterwards we set off to find a campsite for the night. When we eventually found it late at night it was well worth it; beautiful tropical garden with parrots, toucans, monkeys, swimming pool, cheap restaurant, 10 minutes walk from the beach …
We are now taking a couple of days to relax and catch up on things. I have several repairs on the car: we nearly lost the front suspension because two bolts had unscrewed themselves and dropped out! …and we almost had a fire inside when a reading lamp burst into flames!!
But everything is now under control, and we’re ready to set off again …once I’ve changed the rear tyres which are almost completely bald!

So …. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY, AND BEST WISHES FOR 2008!!

Next update soon.

Ciao

Ushuaia ... El fin del mundo

Ushuaia …..El fin del Mundo ….or Bergs and Beavers

From Galapagos in the north, we flew down to Ushuaia …the most southerly town in the world. The total flight time was 17,5hrs! …leaving from Quito, and changing at Lima, Santiago, and Punta Arenes before finally arriving at Ushuaia. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, having read in some of the guide books that Ushuaia was « over-rated ». So it was a wonderful surprise to find the town nestling in scenery that looks just like a little Switzerland; snow-capped mountains, huge lakes, forests, and the famous Beagle channel to the south (named after Darwin’s ship). The weather is equally spectacular; changing every few minutes. You can have brilliant hot sunshine one second, then a torrential downpour the next. With temperatures ranging from 25degrees C with no wind ….to several degrees below zero when the wind blows! …and when the wind blows ….it BLOWS!!!
The port is full of small yachts, Antarctic cruise ships, cargo vessels, ice-breakers, and two magnificent old three-masted sailing ships. Actually there is one cruise ship less now ….while we were there the « Explorer » sank after hitting an iceberg …with 151 people on board! Fortunately everyone was rescued.
We rented a small car to drive around from a local company called « Localiza ». We’ve never had such amazing service; incredibly enthusiastic, gave us addresses of local campsites, restaurants, and places to visit. Even lent us some music CD’s for our travels (Paul Anka and Rod Stewart?!!) Plus the rental rates were way below all the other companies …..Hertz look out!!! Talking about restaurants, if you’re basically a carnivore like me, Ushuaia is a paradise; there are several restaurants with huge barbecues and « All You Can Eat » menus for just 10euros!!! ….and the meat is just the best you ever tasted!
After visiting and camping in the Tierra del Fuego national park (lots of rabbits, beavers, rabbits, hawks, wild horses …and more rabbits …oh, and a glacier that you can’t actually see because its buried under 10metres of snow), we set off for the Glacier national park further north. To get there we had to cross the Straits of Magellan on a little ferry. We almost got stuck in the car while we were waiting for the ferry to arrive ….the wind was so strong we couldn’t open the car doors!!!
The object of our visit was the Perito Moreno glacier …. Now that is one impressive glacier!! …an enormous 14km long, 2,5km wide wall of glistening blue/white ice. This glacier is actually getting bigger! It advances several metres per year!! So much for global warming! You can hear the cracks and groans as it pushes forwards against the rocky shoreline; it has already cut Argentina’s biggest lake in two!
We took advantage of our last days in Argentina to eat steak, barbecued by chef Willett at the campsite. 1kg of prime beef steak at a time (for just 5euros!) …..mmmmmm
On our way back to Ushuaia we stopped at a penguin reserve. Actually we slept overnight in the car in front of the gates ….we got a few strange looks from the wardens when they opened up in the morning …but we’re getting used to that by now! The Magellan penguins live in burrows just like rabbits, about 100metres from the beach. They look so comical waddling along their little paths to and from the sea (each penguin always uses the same paths), just like a little village of very small people dressed in dinner jackets, stopping to chat to each other, and poking their beaks into each other’s burrows … »Hey Fred, I’m just popping down to the beach for a quick sardine, are you coming? »
In 1940 the Argentines introduced beavers into Ushuaia, to provide extra employment (hunting) for the local people. However, as the beavers had no natural predators, things got a bit out of hand. From an original 50 beavers, there are now 120 000!! …and to make things worse, nobody wears beaver skin clothes any more ….ooops! They are very shy creatures, but we managed to find a fairly isolated beaver « house » and dam, and got some movie film of them.
We are writing this back in Quito, It was sad to leave Ushuaia; an incredibly beautiful place, wild and lonely, with days that last from 5:30am to 10:30pm …and even during the night it doesn’t really get very dark.
We soon say goodbye to South America; in a couple of weeks we’ll be writing our next update from Panama.

Hasta luego!!